Women's Christian Temperance Union was major movement at turn of century

By Tom Emery

Today, alcohol usage is a persistent social issue, as drunk driving and domestic turmoil, among other problems, haunt American society.

It is not a new issue, and over a century ago, thousands of American women joined the fight. Those concerns gave rise to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, a hallmark of social awareness in the late 19th and early 20th century.

The first national convention of the WCTU was held in November 1874 in Cleveland. It was the first anti-alcohol group operated exclusively by women, and remains the oldest, continuous female organization in the world....